HCC Seminar Series: "A Tour of Generative AI in Pre-Employment Assessment and Adult Learning/Development"

Abstract

Generative AI is shaping the future of work, but unevenly. Although AI tool use is becoming increasingly common, assessment and learning practitioners remain split between enthusiasm and horror. In this talk, we'll first explore how pre-employment assessment is being transformed by the proliferation of generative AI, including both the innovative psychometric assessments being developed and the growing worries about new avenues for applicant cheating. Second, we'll explore how these same assessment challenges are influencing learning and development professionals, initially through similar concerns about cheating, but increasingly through innovative uses of generative AI to provide ongoing developmental support to workers. This section will include discussion of an ongoing DoD-funded project at the United States Naval Academy.

Biography

Richard N. Landers, Ph.D., is the John P. Campbell Distinguished Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of Minnesota and Principal Investigator of TNTLAB (Testing New Technologies in Learning, Assessment and Behavior). His research is interdisciplinary and concerns the use of innovative technologies like artificial intelligence, games, and gamification to improve psychometric assessment, employee selection, adult learning, and research methods. He is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), American Psychological Association, and Association for Psychological Science, as well as President-Elect (2025-2026) of SIOP. He is the incoming editor of Technology, Mind, and Behavior (2025 IF 3.2), an interdisciplinary gold open access journal published by the American Psychological Association at the intersection of psychology and computer science.